Introduction: Why Work with Dreams at All?

Everyone dreams. But most people forget them, ignore them, or dismiss them as nonsense. And yet, dreams often hold a strange intensity—they leave us shaken, curious, or stirred. Why?

Dreams are not random. They reflect something alive inside us that we don't fully understand yet. This article is about working with dreams in a simple, useful way—not to decode them like puzzles, but to relate to them as messages. Dreams are expressions of your deeper self. They show you what wants to change in your life.

A Force Inside You Wants to Emerge

Dreams are complex. They can be symbolic, surreal, and contradictory. But here, we'll use a practical approach drawn from process-oriented psychology.

You live your daily life as a certain version of yourself. This is your primary process: your usual habits, roles, emotions, and ways of thinking. But other parts of you exist outside this identity. Maybe you suppress them, don’t recognize them, or fear them. These are your secondary processes.

Your secondary process wants to emerge. It shows up in body symptoms, accidents, slips of the tongue, strong emotions—and dreams.

So: dreams are a stage where these unfamiliar energies try to enter your awareness. Every strange figure, intense scene, or uncomfortable moment carries a piece of this energy. The dream doesn’t just tell a story. It shows a force that wants to become part of who you are.

How to Spot What’s Trying to Break Through

In every dream, there's something trying to come into your life. This is the energy we want to find—the force the dream is trying to awaken in you. It's not about interpreting symbols, but sensing what quality is trying to move through the dream into your awareness.

To find it, look for moments in the dream that carry charge—emotional, physical, or atmospheric. These moments usually carry the energy. Pay attention to who or what carries this charge: a person, an animal, a place, an event. Often, it's something that feels foreign or intense.

Sometimes the charged element is frightening or uncomfortable. Other times, it’s oddly compelling or mysterious. It might be an interaction, a movement, or a presence that lingers after waking. The more intense the sensation—fear, desire, confusion, awe—the more likely it is that this part of the dream holds the energy trying to come into your life.

You don’t need to understand it right away. Just noticing what stands out—what sticks with you—is enough. That’s the thread. With practice, you can begin to sense what kind of shift this energy invites in your waking life.

Real Dreams, Real Signals

To support the ideas above, here are some real-world examples of how to identify the emerging energy in dreams. Each one shows how the "X energy" becomes visible through emotionally charged parts of the dream.

Dream: You’re in a crowded station and miss your train.
What stood out: the anxiety of the crowd, the feeling of missing something important. The physical pressure and emotional overwhelm point to the emerging energy.
X energy: pressure, urgency, helplessness.
Message: Life might be moving too fast. There’s a part of you asking to slow down or question your current direction.

Dream: A wild dog chases you.
What stood out: the fear, the speed, the wildness of the dog. The emotional charge here is clear and physical.
X energy: instinct, rawness, untamed emotion.
Message: You might be suppressing a powerful feeling. The dream points to a force that wants to be expressed or acknowledged.

Dream: You discover a hidden room in your house.
What stood out: the surprise, the sense of possibility, the atmosphere of the hidden space. There’s a quiet but deep emotional charge.
X energy: mystery, potential, newness.
Message: A new part of yourself is becoming available. The dream draws attention to something unexplored within you.

In each case, the charged moment points toward a quality that is not fully lived yet. That quality is the energy the dream is trying to bring into your waking life.

A Simple Morning Ritual to Work With Your Dreams

Recall & Write. Before you move out of bed, try to remember the dream. Write down whatever comes—even fragments.

Highlight What Stands Out. Circle the moments that felt charged or strange.

Switch Roles. Choose one key figure or element. Imagine being it. Ask what it wants.

Name the Energy. Find the quality it represents. Keep it simple.

Apply It Today. Ask yourself: how can I bring this quality into my day, even in a small way? Speak a little more directly. Rest more. Say no. Move your body differently.

Conclusion: A Relationship, Not a Technique

You don’t need to analyze your dreams perfectly. What matters is the relationship. If you make space for them, dreams respond. Over time, they become clearer, more direct.

Start small. Practice daily. Stay curious.

Your dreams already know who you're becoming. Your task is to listen.

Sources

Process-Oriented Psychology - Amy and Arnold Mindell
Dreambody - Amy and Arnold Mindell
Dreambody Work - Process Work Institute
Process Oriented Psychology: Benefits, Techniques & How It Works - GoodTherapy
Foundations of Process Work - IAPOP
Process-oriented psychology - Wikipedia
Arnold Mindell and Process-Oriented Psychology: Pioneering a Path Beyond Jungian Analysis
What is the Dreambody according to Arnold Mindell? - Lucid 1on1
Process Oriented Dream Work - Silvia Camastral
Primary Process/Secondary Process - Encyclopedia.com